Riyad Mahrez has been praised by his Algeria manager Djamel Belmadi for outshining Liverpool's African duo Sadio Mane and Mo Salah during the Africa Cup of Nations.
Egypt were knocked out at the last-16 stage in July before Senegal succumbed to defeat by Algeria in the Cairo final.
“Riyad performed the role of captain with great elegance," Belmadi told the FIFA website in a new interview. "He was a very effective member of the team and vitally important in building attacks.
“He scored and was always present at the difficult times. What we saw was a star who deserves all the plaudits.
"Everyone was waiting to see Mahrez playing against Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, and Riyad was there when needed and lived up to expectations.”
Belmadi himself was shortlisted alongside the likes of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp for The Best FIFA Men's Coach award earlier this year and spoke of his pride at having his achievement with Algeria recognised.
"It's wonderful and nice to be on the list, especially alongside big names in the world of coaching, whom I consider to be role models because of their ideas and coaching philosophies," Belmadi said.
"But at the same time, I consider the achievement to be the fruit of work by a tightknit coaching team and all the players."
